Increasing paid parental leave to 52 weeks would give billion-dollar boost to economy, unions say

Unions have called for a massive expansion of paid parental leave by extending it to 52 weeks, paying parents their actual wage and including superannuation.

The Albanese government has opened the door to union demands for multi-employer bargaining but earlier this year dropped immediate plans to pay super on parental leave, citing the $200m a year cost.

Labor has come under increasing pressure to scrap the $243bn 10-year income tax cuts to fund social spending and ease the rising cost of living.

The ACTU calculated that due to the gender pay gap, men earn $472 more each week than women. If that gap were cut in half, women would take home an additional $85bn. A further $26bn would be generated by halving the participation gap, it calculated.

The ACTU released the paper in the lead-up to the jobs and skills summit on Thursday and Friday.

On Monday the workplace relations, Tony Burke, encouraged union calls for pay deals at multiple employers, which the ACTU argues will help close the gender pay gap.